National Parks Traveler

Speak Out on Pending National Park Service Proposals

Now the Traveler is making it even easier for you to comment on pending National Park Service proposals, be they general management plans or the proposal to allow park visitors to carry concealed weapons in the parks.

Yosemite National Park Staff Helped Locate and Investigate the Fossett Crash Site in the Sierra Nevadas

A year-long search for missing billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett was finally brought to a close with an accidental discovery by a man and his dog hiking in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. Yosemite staff played a key role in helping to locate and investigate the crash site.

Hawks Rest, A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone

Eleven weeks spent in what arguably is the most remote corner of the continental United States taught writer Gary Ferguson that, sadly, some who pass through the landscape take it too much for granted.

Grand Canyon National Park to Host "Celebrate Wildlife Day" in November

On November 1, Grand Canyon National Park will host its first Celebrate Wildlife Day, an event designed to enhance visitor awareness and understanding of Grand Canyon’s wonderfully diverse wildlife. In addition to an all-day open house there will be an assortment of indoor and outdoor programs focused on Grand Canyon wildlife and their habitat.

Lassen Volcanic National Park Gets Its First Purpose-Built Visitor Center, and It’s a Dandy

Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of our oldest national parks, but it has never had anything more than a makeshift visitor center. Until now, that is. A 92-year wait ends today, October 4, when the park celebrates the grand opening of the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center at the park’s southwest entrance.

Park History: Dinosaur National Monument

If it were designated part of the National Park System today, what would we call Dinosaur National Monument? True, it offers a treasure trove of fossilized dinosaur remains, one that continues to be studied. But there's also the riverine component, mountains, and high desert that all offer outstanding experiences befitting a national park setting.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Not Immune to Bear Problems

A cantankerous black bear on an island in Lake Superior is proof that bear problems in the National Park System are not restricted to the West or the Appalachians.

Hurricane Ike Storm Debris Creates a Mammoth Cleanup Problem at Padre Island National Seashore

Hurricane Ike storm debris has drifted southwest along the Texas Gulf Coast and littered the beaches at Padre Island National Seashore. Cleaning it up is a mammoth task that must be done quickly. Protecting seashore wildlife is a major concern.

Steamtown National Historic Site Schedules Leaf Peeper Excursions in the Poconos

Steamtown National Historic Site has scheduled eight steam-powered train trips to two popular destinations in the Poconos during the fall foliage season. Critics complain about Steamtown’s sparse excursion schedule, but there’s little to dislike about these leaf peeper outings.

Singer Dolly Parton Named Ambassador for Great Smoky Mountains National Park's Anniversary

Dolly Parton grew up in Tennessee not far from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, she's sung My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, Mule Skinner Blues, My Tennessee Mountain Home, and Tennessee Homesick Blues, so should it be any surprise that the singer has been named ambassador for the park's 75th birthday?

North Cascades National Park – Forty Years on the Map, Seventy Years in the Making

Washington’s North Cascades National Park sits peacefully along the Canadian border. The serenity of this park, which marks its 40th birthday October 2, masks the story of a 70-year struggle to protect one of the most indomitable mountain landscapes in America.

Maintenance Worker Finds a Hand Grenade in Rock Creek Park

Finding a hand grenade is a cause for pause. A maintenance worker who found one in Rock Creek Park had to be thinking: Good Lord! Could this thing possibly be real?!

Young Panther is Killed Crossing a Road in Everglades National Park

A car struck and killed a panther kitten Monday night in Everglades National Park. There are probably fewer than 100 panthers left in south Florida, so the death of even a single youngster is very sad.

Park History: The Appalachian Trail

Zigzagging 2,175 miles between Mount Katahdin in northern Maine and Springer Mountain in Georgia, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail gained life through an article Benton MacKaye wrote for the Journal of the American Institute of Architects in 1921. In it the forester ruminated on the need for Americans to spend more time at leisure, preferably in the outdoors.

Backcountry Skier Dies in Rocky Mountain National Park

A backcountry skier has died in an accident in Rocky Mountain National Park. The 40-year-old was skiing alone on Taylor Glacier and reported missing late Tuesday.

Updated: Groups Claim Yellowstone National Park Officials Abdicating Responsibility Over Snowmobile Access Issue

Officials for Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks announced Wednesday that they would prepare yet another environmental study to clear the way for recreational snowmobiling and snowcoach traffic in the parks this winter.

50-year-old Man Reporting Missing in Shenandoah National Park

Searchers are on the ground in the Cedar Mountain area of Shenandoah National Park today looking for a 50-year-old man reported missing on Monday.

Fall Is A Great Season in Glacier National Park

Fall is a great time to visit many parks, and Glacier National Park in Montana is no exception. Summer crowds are gone, the weather is often great, and although it's not New England, there's also some fine fall color to enjoy from aspen, cottonwood, and birch. Larch also provides magnificent shades of yellow, and this conifer is unusual because it loses its needles after they change color.

Park History: Yosemite National Park

Older than Yellowstone National Park in terms of being set aside for the public's enjoyment, Yosemite National Park could fairly be called the elder statesman of the National Park System. And, no doubt, there are those who would say Yosemite's scenery is second to none in the system.

National Park System Quiz 22: Angels and Saints

Quiz 10 on July 9 was “Speak of the Devil.” Fair is fair, so this week we’ll turn the focus in the heavenly direction and deal with angels, saints, and such. Answers are at the end. If we catch you peeking, we’ll make you write “The cognitive complexities of the term ‘saint’ render lexical disambiguation extraordinarily challenging” 100 times on the whiteboard.

Pruning the Parks: Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area Was a National Park for Just Five Years

Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah-Wyoming had been in the National Park System for only five years when, on October 1, 1968, Congress transferred it to the U.S. Forest Service. There was little sense of loss. Congress hadn’t mandated NPS administration and the NPS wasn’t deeply committed to reservoir recreation management.

World Heritage Site Photography Exhibit On Display at Interior Department

Washington, D.C., is awash with museums. Some are easy to find and worth visiting, some are near-impossible to find and occasionally worth visiting. The Interior Department's museum is in the latter category.